The etymology of the Name and Family Histories in the transition from Fayrehale to Verrall and migrations from Cuckfield to Hailsham via Eastbourne, plus the stories behind one family's escape from poverty to life in a new land.

Written by Yvonne Cottman From
information and letters by .... William Hooper, Stella Saunders

(Grandchildren of Charles) and from
Frank Verrall (Nephew).

Charles St. Vincent Verrall was born on
6th May 1844, aboard the ship "St.Vincent" enroute to
Australia, arriving in Sydney from Deptford on 31st July 1844, the
first child of George and Sarah Verrall. (Nee Keach)

He spent his first five years on the
Clarence River at one or the other of three cattle properties on
which his parents were employed by Ward Stephens. His father worked
as a station hand, was noted as an expert rifleman and his mother,
Sarah worked as a domestic servant.

After five years in new South Wales the
family now consisting of four children, Charles, Mary, Thomas and
Caroline.. journeyed to Queensland in a wagon drawn by bullocks.
This was a long tedious, remarkable trek and some of it was
remembered by Charles, then about five years of age but,
unfortunately nothing ( as far as this writer knows) was recorded.
Queensland was not yet a State and the promise of buying land and
starting their own property was a great incentive for George and
Sarah who, with stout hearts began their journey. They came all of
those miles.. who knows how long it took them.. and Sarah gave birth
along the way to her fifth child, George. They travelled over
Cunningham's Gap making their way to Ipswich where there was an
industry called "Boiling Down".. of cattle for Tallow to
make soap. It is not known if George worked there.

The family soon settled on the land,
rented a farm though it was not long before they were living on their
own property at Redbank Plains. Being the oldest child, Charles was
of great assistance to his parents,worked hard,increased the acreage,
the stock and soon had a place of note.

In his young days, Charles felled and
carried cedar from the Cedar forest at Mt. Mista, near Laidley, Qld,
with his team of horses. On one occasion he became lost in the
forest. It was incredibly thick with timber, the sun went down and
he could not find his way out. It was two days before he appeared
and he gave credit to his team of horses for finding the way out. He
also carted coal to the shoot at the Bremer River, carted stone to
Brisbane to build the Treasury Building and also to build the Lewis
Thomas mansion on the hill at Blackstone... now demolished.

On 5th August 1869 Charles married
Helen Robertson Adams, born in Scotland to William and Allison Adams
(Nee Dickson). Many years later, Helen told her grandaughter, Stella
Hooper, that her mother had written to her saying " Come home at
once and marry Charlie Verrall as your father is building a house for
you on the Reserve" as it was called those times. Later it
became Mutdapilly.

Charles was a very handsome man. He
was tall, powerfully built and with a ruggedness of the outdoor man.
His eyes were light blue and they twinkled.. his complexion, though
tanned by the Queensland sun was, underneath fresh and fair, a
heritage from his English parents.

His disposition was most pleasant, his
nature happy and he was endowed with a likeable sense of humour. He
was not at all without talent in his attempt to mimic several of the
interesting local characters... much to his family's enjoyment. He
neither drank or smoked and was never known to lose his temper or to
use bad language. Until his "old age" he possessed a good
head of thick hair, had his own teeth and did not wear glasses... it
is believed he had normal hearing but one story puts a question mark
beside that.

It was told by Frank verrall. On one
occasion, at church, Charles was sitting in the back row listening to
the Minister give his sermon. He made a fine figure, in his white
moleskin trousers and carrying a wide brimmed white hat.. He stood up
and called out "Speak up Man, I can't hear you". He was
offered a front seat and thereafter occupied it.

Another story from Frank was the time
Charles went to Sydney, with one of his daughters, and while walking
along Pitt Street, Sydney, he spotted a pair of grey horses pulling a
dray.. he stepped out into the centre of the street, pulled up the
horses, looked them over thoroughly, inspected their teeth etc,
patted them and told the startled driver " You have got a fine
pair of greys there".

He was noted for his kindness and
generosity, concern for the welfare of his fellow man and a story
bears this out.. related in a letter to the writer from William
Hooper... Going along a bush track to his waggon to Ipswich to
replenish his provivions his horse suddenly shied at something
alongside the road. Thinking it must have been a snake or some such
thing, Charles stopped the waggon and got out.. there he saw a youth
under some bushes...clearly very frightened and cowering down.
Charles spoke to him in a soft voice and encouraged the boy to come
out from under the bushes. He explained to Charles that he had run
away from his employer where life had been intolerable. Charles took
him into the waggon and they continued the journey into Ipswich.
Upon arriving there Charles took the lad to Cribb and Foote where
they were able to get a hot breakfast as it was the custom those
days that employee and customers alike could take advantage of the
dining room. After completing his business in town Charles then took
the lad to the Police Sergeant and told him the story. He then
offered to feed and clothe the boy but was not in a position to pay
wages. This was accepted by the Sergeant and agreed that things
should continue in this manner until the

boy was eighteen. However, upon
reaching this age the young man wished to stay on and was employed
and paid wages, happy with life. For many years and even when the
young man left to go elsewhere he visited the Verrall family in
Mutdapilly many times in the ensuing years. His name was Daly and he
lived to the age of ninety years. He had no relatives in Australia as
he had run away at the age of thirteen years from his home in
Ireland. He kept in close contact with the family and regarded them
as his own.

Charles and Helen lived all of their
married life at Mutdapilly and saw several of their family settle in
the same area. The Mutdapilly school was just at the bottom of the
paddock, the Methodist Church near by,.. also a small building that
was used as a post office to which the mail was delivered each day.

Charles, like the other members of his
family was a farmer. he grew numerous crops such as oats, millet,
corn, potatoes, vegetables of all kinds.. an orchard of some
distinction and in between the trees he had planted grapes. It is
said that he had more than a hundred varieties. It was a treat for
his grandchildren ( so says Stella Saunders) when visiting the farm
to go with a bucket, fill it with grapes and eat until satisfied.
Charles had a "touch" for gardening, was extremely
productive and reaped a fine harvest.

He also kept a flock of sheep. Among
them were pure merino for which he won first prize at the Ipswich
Show for the best fleece. He had a fine dairy herd, kept pigs...
quite a distance from the house... and further away on another
property he ran cattle. He had a blacksmith shop (Smiddy worked with
big belows and anvil, making horseshoes for his own horses.) All of
his tools hung on a "Smiddy" wall, in good order and ready
for use. Stella recalls that she loved to help work the bellows and
watch the sparks fly.

He was a devoted son to his mother and
many times as she was nearing her last days, he would ride on
horseback from Mutdapilly to Riverview where she lived with her
daughter, Charlotte Bassett, to see her. Several times after a hard
ride he would arrive to find her somewhat recovered, sitting up in
bed... this happened on several occasions and at one time he was
heard to mutter : Die, die, woman,.. You'll never die". It was
not meant to be unkind for that was not his nature. Sarah lived to
be almost ninety-three years and died in 1913.

As he grew older himself,Charles could
not understand why so many young people wore glasses etc. He was
heard to say "False teeth, false eyes, false everything"...
When he passed away at the age of seventy nine on 27th June 1923, he
had a thick head of hair, all of his own teeth and had never worn
glasses.

Charles and Helen had a family of
eleven children... six girls and five boys. Of these, four did not
marry and one died at thirteen from snake bite. They had thirty
eight grandchildren.

William married
Sarah Annie Hodgson
daughter of John Hodgson and Jane Denison 8 Feb 1904 in Ipswich,
Queensland, Australia. Sarah was born 8 Jun 1882 in Queensland,
Australia. She died 6 Sep 1952 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.